Nisha Desai Biswal is the former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and the current president of the US India Business Council

Washington: Mr. Schwartz said the idea that India could be target of U.S sanctions because of its defence relations with Russia erodes U.S.’s standing as reliable partner.

American defence companies and business bodies are lobbying lawmakers and the Donald Trump administration to take measures to ensure that India is not caught in the crossfire of anti-Russia sanctions.

At the heart of the debate is a recent piece of legislation, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), that requires the Trump administration to punish entities engaging in “significant transactions” with the defence or intelligence sectors of Russia. India has significant defence cooperation with Russia and is currently negotiating the purchase of five S-400 air defence system from it at an estimated cost of $ 4.5 billion.

Nisha Desai Biswal, the former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and the current president of the US India Business Council said the U.S lawmakers must be “critically aware” of the disruption CAATSA could cause to America’s significant defence ties with India. “It is something that we are all mindful of and looking at very very carefully. But I do think that we need to acknowledge and address the continuing importance for India of its relationship with Russia and how we manage the way forward on that issue,” Ms. Biswal said, at a panel discussion moderated by US India Friendship Council President Swadesh Chatterjee.

The words “significant transactions” remains undefined and the President has the authority to waive secondary sanctions that are authorised by the law. But the uncertainty and ambiguity triggered by these words could negatively affect the booming bilateral cooperation between India and the United States in defence, according to Benjamin Schwartz, head of US-India Business Council’s Defence and Aerospace programme. “One of the challenges that we face in defence partnership with India is to demonstrate that the United States is reliable partner,” Mr. Schwartz said at an event organised by US India Friendship Council. Mr. Schwartz said the idea that India could be target of U.S sanctions because of its defence relations with Russia erodes U.S.’s standing as reliable partner.

India is not the only country that is caught in the crossfire of the sweeping anti-Russia law. Keith Webster, President of the Chamber’s Defence and Aerospace Export Council said, former Soviet republics and NATO member Turkey have significant partnerships with Russia. “I do think, it (CAATSA) is a serious issue that needs to be dealt. There needs to be a dialogue between the U.S. and India. Our goal is not to sanction India,” Congressman Joe Crowley, House Democratic Caucus Chairman, said.

American defence giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin that have significant interest in Indian defence markets are lobbying the administration and lawmakers to make amends. Mr. Schwartz said the situation could remedied through a combination of legislative and executive actions, or through a presidential waver. “Since it is written in an ambiguous way, if the legislative branch clarifies the intent, the executive branch could interpret what is “significant transactions.” The other way of doing it is making a clarification in a piece of legislation that India’s continuing cooperation with Russia does not constitute a significant transaction, explicitly,” he said. “If you impose sanctions on India, the only country that benefit from it is Russia,” he said, pointing out the self-defeatist nature of the law that seeks to target Russia in the first place.